St Martin's Voices (Image: St Martin's Voices)
St Martin’s Voices and Zeb Soanes
A journey around the British and Irish Isles
(Event 9: Fri 9th Oct 2026 8.00pm Little Missenden Church)
Henry Purcell Fairest Isle
Reading: John Clare – On a Lane in Spring
Ralph Vaughan Williams from Five English Folk Songs: The lover’s ghost; Wassail song
Reading: W H Auden – Night Mail
James MacMillan The gallant weaver
Kristina Arakelyan My true love is parted from me
Reading: Alexander Pope – The Quiet Life
Welsh trad. arr. Gordon Jacob The ash grove
Michael Tippett from Four Songs of the British Isles: Gwenllian
Reading: Robert Louis Stevenson – An English Breeze
Bob Chilcott The isle is full of noises
INTERVAL
Cecilia McDowall Be not afeard
Reading: Walter de la Mare – The Seas of England
Cornish trad. arr. Gustav Holst I love my love
Kerry Andrew All things are quite silent
Reading: Elizabeth Barrett Browning – The Herefordshire Landscape
Benjamin Britten from Five Flower Songs: The evening primrose; The ballad of green broom
Reading: William Blake – Ah! Sun-flower
Owain Park Louisa
Charles Villiers Stanford from Six Irish Folksongs: It is not the tear
Reading: Christina Rossetti – Up-Hill
Scottish/Irish trad. arr. Sarah Quartel The parting glass
Scottish trad. arr. Sarah Rimkus Charlie is my darling
Programme Notes are available for download here. A shorter version along with texts will be available free at concert
Anchored by extracts from choral cycles by three quintessentially British composers of the last century, the programme takes us round the British Isles on a kaleidoscopic musical and poetic journey. An evening reminding ourselves of our islands’ musical heritage will be an evocative one. Centuries-old folk tunes and favourite pieces of verse we’ve held within us since childhood can’t fail to bring back to life half-remembered stories, together with the thoughts and feelings that went with them at the time. But those elements from the past that survive and pass the test of time become – as the pieces in the programme from living composers attest – very much part of the present as well.
Described as “almost miraculously polished” (Gramophone), St Martin’s Voices is one of the UK’s leading vocal ensembles, renowned for its musical versatility and clarity of sound. The choir sings for regular concerts and special events at its home in London’s St Martin-in-the-Fields, performing repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to new commissions from British composers. They appear regularly at concert venues across the UK and are often featured in broadcasts on BBC Radios 3 and 4 and Classic FM. There are many free YouTube videos of St Martin's Voices in the Great Sacred Music series (though not all the music is sacred) from St Martin-in-the-Fields Music. The example below is for the Christmas season.
After many years as an announcer at the BBC, including as the voice of The Shipping Forecast, Zeb Soanes joined Classic FM in 2022 and his nightly show Relaxing Evenings regularly attracts over a million listeners. He was appointed Chancellor of the University of Suffolk last year and is currently on stage in the one-man show Two Halves of Guinness about his hero Sir Alec Guinness, marking the 25th anniversary of the celebrated actor’s death.
Online booking is managed by TicketSource. This event may be booked from the Tickets link on this page but, when booking for multiple events, it may be more convenient to use our Little Missenden Festival page on TicketSource.